Lewisham West & Penge Conservatives are continuing there campaign to save Lewisham commuters over £300 a year.
Currently there are three stations in zone four in the borough, these are; Grove Park, Lower Sydenham and Beckenham Hill. The Conservatives have been campaigning to have these stations rezoned since 2017.
Fares from these stations are significantly higher than those from stations in North London which are a similar distance from central London. A monthly travelcard from zone one to four costs £199.30 while one from zone one to three costs £162.90, meaning a monthly saving of £36.40 and £436.80 a year. A yearly travelcard from zone one to four costs £2,076 while one from zone one to three costs £1,696 meaning a saving of £380 a year.
Lewisham West & Penge Conservatives claim that by rezoning Grove Park, Lower Sydenham and Beckenham Hill stations from zone four to zone three this could save hard pressed commuters over £300 a year. Further to this they believe that changing the zoning from these stations will also help regenerate the areas around the stations, meaning local businesses and recreational facilities will have more customers and visitors as it would be cheaper for them to visit on local rail networks.
Similar Inner London Boroughs such as Islington in north London have no zone four stations, while Lewisham commuters in the south of the borough have to pay more.
Former Conservative Candidate for Mayor of Lewisham, Ross Archer said "London's Fare Zones are out of date and it is costing local commuters hundreds of pounds. Lewisham is an inner London Borough and local commuters deserve to pay inner London fares. Changing these zones won't just save commuters hundreds of pounds a year, it'll bring more investment into the south of the borough".
The Conservative petition on the rezoning the station was signed by over 1500 people. You can view it here: https://www.change.org/p/sadiq-khan-no-more-zone-four-in-lewisham?recruiter=26929125&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_page.share_redirect-control
